Allegro Announces New Six-Channel Charge Pump White LED Driver

Allegro™ MicroSystems Inc. announced a new high efficiency charge pump IC that offers a simple, low-cost white LED (WLED) driver solution for driving up to six WLEDs in various application configurations. All six WLEDs could be backlighting a single display, or used with multiple displays; for example, four WLEDs for a main display and the other two WLEDs backlighting a sub display or a low-current flash/torch.

Using a proprietary control scheme (1x, 1.5x, and 2x), the A8434 can deliver well-matched WLED current while maintaining the highest efficiency and low EMI. The WLED current is regulated over the entire range of Li+ battery voltage to provide uniform intensity. WLED brightness and on/off can be controlled for the six channels, either all together or independently as main display and sub display/torch, through 2 single-wire serial interface pins.

Allegro's A8434 is available in a 16L QFN space-conserving (3x3 mm footprint) ES package. This device is priced at $0.59 in quantities of 1,000 and has a 10-12 week lead-time to market.